# Wineador with Oasis, major humidity problems.



## Gcocks (Oct 24, 2011)

Hey everyone,

I have built a wineador from all the info supplied in the forums...I came out well. 
Sorba wine cooler 28 bottle, very similar to a newair, drawers by Forrest 
tried kitty litter but it couldn't supply enought RH. 

Im up here in Canada, my room RH is 50% very dry, so got an oasis and fans. Was great for about 2 months, now 75% RH all the time. I have the Oasis set at 60% to counter the problem, still no good.

Oasis reads 74, calibrated hydro reads 75....any suggestions

Edit: one thought I had is the Oasis reservoir is emmiting humidity even when not running?

Thanks in advance


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## TonyBrooklyn (Jan 28, 2010)

Go to the Kitty Litter thread and read Short Fuse managed to maintain humidity in the desert with it!


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## nikonnut (Dec 4, 2011)

TonyBrooklyn said:


> Go to the Kitty Litter thread and read Short Fuse managed to maintain humidity in the desert with it!


I have to agree. The humidity is on the rise here in Arkansas but when I built my wineador the RH in the house was about 30% and I remember a day when it dipped to 21%. The KL held 63%/64% never even flinched.


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## Herf N Turf (Dec 31, 2008)

One of the problems may likely be the oasis. They're notoriously inconsistent and inaccurate. Check for proper function.

Also, bear in mind that wineadors are sealed systems and require very little moisture to maintain relatively low levels. Once drawers / shelves and cigars are stabilized, not much is needed. A reservoir on an oasis can indeed passively release too much moisture.

What you could use cat litter for would be a temporary fix to absorb excess, but simply leaving the door open will do that in short order.


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## Gcocks (Oct 24, 2011)

Thanks guys.

I did read through numours pages of the KL thread. I think I won't need to dry the KL due to the lack of RH here, but add moisture to it.
I'm still uncertain how to do this, I read just mist the KL with distilled water. I worried about overdoing it...any rules of thumb to follow.

Thanks


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## TonyBrooklyn (Jan 28, 2010)

Gcocks said:


> Thanks guys.
> 
> I did read through numours pages of the KL thread. I think I won't need to dry the KL due to the lack of RH here, but add moisture to it.
> I'm still uncertain how to do this, I read just mist the KL with distilled water. I worried about overdoing it...any rules of thumb to follow.
> ...


Go slowly couple of sprays at a time wait 24 hrs adjust as necessary. If you over do it a little dry litter and your back in the game. Worse case scenario you toss it and start over its cheap enough.


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## Gcocks (Oct 24, 2011)

Thanks Tony,

Removed the Oasis, left the 2 CPU fans running, put 2 6x6x3 Tupperware containers in the bottom with fans filled with KL, 5 sprays with distilled in each. One large filter sock 3 sprays at the top. 

So the big question is.... if I do not reach the desired 65 do I add more litter or sray more distilled.

I will keep you posted.


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## Herf N Turf (Dec 31, 2008)

Oh YES! You should absolutely waste your time training a random media to reconcile to your desired specification! Giddyup!

Personally, I have better things to do with my time. I could just as easily train a sock, a sponge, or a tampon to do the SAME THING!

One drop of water. Two drops of water... Three months later... I'm still doing it???

Gimme a BREAK!


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## Gcocks (Oct 24, 2011)

Herf N Turf said:


> Oh YES! You should absolutely waste your time training a random media to reconcile to your desired specification! Giddyup!
> 
> Personally, I have better things to do with my time. I could just as easily train a sock, a sponge, or a tampon to do the SAME THING!
> 
> ...


So you don't like KL??

What do you suggest?


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## TonyBrooklyn (Jan 28, 2010)

Gcocks said:


> Thanks Tony,
> 
> Removed the Oasis, left the 2 CPU fans running, put 2 6x6x3 Tupperware containers in the bottom with fans filled with KL, 5 sprays with distilled in each. One large filter sock 3 sprays at the top.
> 
> ...


Keep spraying if by the time approx 50% of the litter is wet and the R/H is still to low add more litter about 1/3 more than you started with. Its not as hard as it sounds (Don means well he just hates Kitty Litter) But we love him!:hug::drinking:


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## Herf N Turf (Dec 31, 2008)

Gcocks said:


> So you don't like KL??
> 
> What do you suggest?


It really depends on YOU and YOUR level of patience. If you give a sponge, a tampon, or a wet rag, or cat litter, enough time and patience, they can all render a stable RH. That's up to you.

What I personally prefer is media already regulated to the RH I prefer, hence Heartfelt Humidity Beads. Yes, they cost more, but how much do you have invested in cigars? Is this a hobby, or a dalliance? At the end of the day, only YOU can decide.

Tony has a LOT of experience with cat litter. He had a GREAT mentor, who guided him through all the slings and arrows of making something work in a way for which it was not designed. He got face-to-face, first-hand mentoring. That's invaluable, but again, I remain steadfast that you are trying to train a monkey to be a dog.



TonyBrooklyn said:


> Keep spraying if by the time approx 50% of the litter is wet and the R/H is still to low add more litter about 1/3 more than you started with. Its not as hard as it sounds (Don means well he just hates Kitty Litter) But we love him!:hug::drinking:


My brother Tony KNOWS that I do NOT "hate" cat litter; no more than I hate socks, wet rags, sponges, or tampons. I realize that it _can_ be used as a cigar humidification media, but what I refuse to sign on for is that it is a panacea.


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## TonyBrooklyn (Jan 28, 2010)

Herf N Turf said:


> It really depends on YOU and YOUR level of patience. If you give a sponge, a tampon, or a wet rag, or cat litter, enough time and patience, they can all render a stable RH. That's up to you.
> 
> What I personally prefer is media already regulated to the RH I prefer, hence Heartfelt Humidity Beads. Yes, they cost more, but how much do you have invested in cigars? Is this a hobby, or a dalliance? At the end of the day, only YOU can decide.
> 
> ...


You forced me to bring out the heavy artillery. This was posted by a fellow BOTL on the KITTY LITTER SET UP THREAD. A thread that would have never been started if it where not for all the animosity shown towards this amazingly cheap hydration media. You are a scientific and intelligent person. Hell one of the smartest and most stubborn i know. But you should appreciate this.

A lot of that is pure marketing speak and is largely just flat wrong and with no basis in science. Silica gel beads come in several varieties with the main three being nano-pore (type A), micro-pore (type B) and wide (or macro) pore (type C). Each type has specific characteristics which lend them to be suited for particular uses.

Type A nano-pore beads are generally best suited to desiccant-only use. Type-A beads have a very narrow range of humidity response regardless of temp (within limits) or humidity (within limits) up to their capacity to absorb moisture. Since the appearance of the various types of silica gel beads is pretty much identical, an easy way to ID type A beads is to spray or soak them with water. Type A nano-pore beads will fracture (break into many pieces/turn to sand) in the presence of liquid water.

Type B and Type C are both suitable for humidity control and the level of humidity (the set point) is based on pre-conditioning and the essentially linear response curve of these bead types. Type B and Type C beads tend to adsorb (not absorb) moisture at high relative humidity levels and desorb as humidity levels fall. This response curve is why Type B and Type C beads are in fact the base products for humidity control in contained museum exhibit and gallery use. (Artsorb.) (See some response curves for the various types of silica gels in the charts at Broadchem* at Qingdao Broadchem Industrial Co., Ltd and WR Grace at W. R. Grace & Co. Enriching Lives, Everywhere.® - Adsorption on Silica Gels.) Beads are not "pre-set" as "pre-set" implies that beads will maintain one specific level of humidity up to the limits of adsorption (saturation) or desorbtion (dry.) Silica gel beads are instead "pre-conditioned" (which is to say they are "set" to a level of RH at a certain temperature by exposing them to the desired RH at the desired temp until they achieve equilibrium.)

Heartfelt beads are just plain silica gel type B or Type C beads. Nothing more. Nothing less. There is nothing magic about them except the price. Buy the cheapest Type B or Type C beads you can find and use those. The silica beads in some brands of cat litter** are suitable. (It isn't cat litter until your cat uses it. It's just silica gel.)

Sorry if I've stepped on any toes here, but this is an area I happen to know something about based on years of work for the archives at the Air War College at Maxwell AFB in Montgomery, AL. I had wondered about Heartfelt and their claims for a while. I have no idea if they believe what they are saying or if they just don't understand the science. Either way, their product is nothing special. Just over priced.

*The Broadchem charts are probably the more instructive. Suffice to say that these charts show that both Type B and Type C beads have the ability to adsorb more moisture at high levels of RH and less moisture at low levels of RH. Think about what that means and you will see that contra the marketing speak claim ("Humidification beads give off water vapor, as well as absorb it, to maintain a specific RH which is ideal for a cigars particular need. This is not the case with silica gel which can only absorb water then must be dried out after it is saturated"), Type B and Type C beads do in fact have the inherent ability to both adsorb and desorb. In fact, even Type A beads can both adsorb and desorb moisture, but the limited response curve of such nano-pore beads is not well suited for RH set-point stabilization so much as for drying.

**Crystal Clear Litter Pearls are generally Type B, Type C or some mixture of the two and are perfectly suited for the purpose of cigar humidor humidity stabilization and control.


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## Gcocks (Oct 24, 2011)

I get what you are saying Don, ironically I'm not a patient person. I will give the KL a try since I have it on hand...if unsuccessful I will try something like the heartfelt beads.

Im looking for a set it and forget it options, thats why I chose the Oasis. I may be away from the wineador for weeks at a time so longevity is important.

Got some good money invested in sticks, so spending on beads is no big deal. I will try and post some pics once I'm at work and off,the iPad. 

Weight reccomedation in Heartfelt's....28 bottle wine cooler, 6 drawers, 1 shelf, probably 250+ sticks.

Thanks G


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## Herf N Turf (Dec 31, 2008)

Copy / Paste... not your friend.

You've always lost me at, "spraying, adding, spraying, removing, replacing, spraying, adding, spraying..."

It JUST seems like wayyyy too much work, just to keep a bunch of rolled up rotten leaves from tasting nasty.

There is nothing that a half pound of Heartfelt Beads wouldn't cure that five pounds of cat litter (with 10x the maintenance) couldn't!

PS There is no "heavy artillery" for cat litter. Only heavy lifting. Personally, I'd rather just smoke cigars, not nurse them through antiquated intensive care.


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## TonyBrooklyn (Jan 28, 2010)

:hmm::hmm::hmm::hmm::hmm::hmm::hmm:


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## Gcocks (Oct 24, 2011)

Update: 24 hours after adding the KL and following Tonys instruction, stable at 64 since this morning.

Thanks Tony, I will follow up in a week or so.


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## IBEW (Jan 17, 2009)

Gcocks said:


> Update: 24 hours after adding the KL and following Tonys instruction, stable at 64 since this morning.
> 
> Thanks Tony, I will follow up in a week or so.


Works every time!
Another crisis solved with KL.
After reading Tony's KL thread, I changed over from HF beads and never looked back.


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## choinga (Aug 11, 2010)

...my Oasis was 9% off when reading RH. Make sure you have a couple hygro's in your wineador - 3 is ideal for top/mid/bottom so you can really know what's going on. Of course, calibrate them all and then once you figure out how much your Oasis is off (and, trust me - it's off) then you want to adjust it properly.

That said, I dumped mine (Oasis) - was too much trouble...went with 2lbs mix of HCM and HF beads placed all over (placement is key and it's trial and error...move it, give it a few days, move again, etc...) and now I'm rock solid.

Most folks make changes and then come back a couple hours later and see the result. It doesn't quite work like that with humi's. You really need to give changes at least a couple days or so to re-adjust.


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## Herf N Turf (Dec 31, 2008)

choinga said:


> ...my Oasis was 9% off when reading RH. Make sure you have a couple hygro's in your wineador - 3 is ideal for top/mid/bottom so you can really know what's going on. Of course, calibrate them all and then once you figure out how much your Oasis is off (and, trust me - it's off) then you want to adjust it properly.
> 
> That said, I dumped mine (Oasis) - was too much trouble...went with 2lbs mix of HCM and HF beads placed all over (placement is key and it's trial and error...move it, give it a few days, move again, etc...) and now I'm rock solid.
> 
> Most folks make changes and then come back a couple hours later and see the result. It doesn't quite work like that with humi's. You really need to give changes at least a couple days or so to re-adjust.


That /\

Be it beads, or cat litter, placement and broad distribution is everything.


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## francone13 (Jan 18, 2011)

Iv sprayed my KL 1 time in the past year. Works good for me.


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## Stinky (Mar 27, 2006)

I've helped a few "new-to-cigar" guys over the years. I usually start with:

_*"Maintaining a cigar humidor (of any size) is like having a science project." *_

Then, I share what works for me. << another long humidor story >>

I don't know who the "Herf N Turf" guy is (Don), but I gotta admit: He's right!

Your decision on how much time to spend tinkering with your humidity project is YOUR personal decision.

One aspect I would focus on is the *COST FACTORS* associate with all these home recipes! 
Therefore: 
What's your time worth? 
Is this fun for you? 
Proceed accordingly.

Bottom Line: We all want our cigars in the proper environment.

One solution (and a problem) you see & repeated throughout this thread is the flaws in the Oasis (brand) device. While this is a good device and one of the first in the field of cigar humidors, the product reviews have been known to include some deficiencies as stated along this thread/topic. There is another humidifier called Hydra that a friend of mine claims to be the best of the best. It's calibrated to less than 1% humidity. And, this might be the easiest & best solution: purchase the devise that is designed to do the job! No, I don't have one. I still use Propylene Glycol, distilled water, beads, gel, Kotex, etc. . . because it's worked for me for so long . . . why fix something that ain't broken?

Suggestion to all:
*Calibrate your Hydrometers! *Salt test seems to be the norm. And, after you calibrate (all of) your Hydrometers, put them all in the same place inside your humidor (at first) to see if they all pick up the same temperature & humidity reading. . . then, put them top, middle & bottom . . . left, right & center. Whatever!

FYI:
A Hydrometer aka "hydro-meter" (measures water vapor). Not to be confused with a "hydro-stat" which senses humidity and turns a circuit on or off. A "humidifier" (in the world of cigars) is a device that emits or absorbs humidity to achieve a desired environment.


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## TonyBrooklyn (Jan 28, 2010)

IBEW said:


> Works every time!
> Another crisis solved with KL.
> After reading Tony's KL thread, I changed over from HF beads and never looked back.





Gcocks said:


> Update: 24 hours after adding the KL and following Tonys instruction, stable at 64 since this morning.
> 
> Thanks Tony, I will follow up in a week or so.


Glad to hear Kitty Litter works as well for you guys as it does for me. I maintain 13 humidors with it they hold rock steady R/H for just penny's a pound. Not $40 a pound like beads. Remember its not Kitty Litter unless your cat uses it !
KITTY LITTER ROCKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:rockon::rockon::rockon::rockon::rockon::rockon::rockon:


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## TonyBrooklyn (Jan 28, 2010)

francone13 said:


> Iv sprayed my KL 1 time in the past year. Works good for me.


You bet it does silica gel is silica gel i have yet to see scientific evidence to the contrary!


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## TonyBrooklyn (Jan 28, 2010)

KITTY LITTER MODERN MIRACLE!!!!!!!!!!!


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## Gcocks (Oct 24, 2011)

UPDATE: it's been a couple weeks since I added the KL, the only changes made is adding more...total about 2+ lbs.

Things are perfect, 68/68 all the time. What a relief, everything balanced...I was going to wait to say it but....

KITTY LITTER ROCKS!!!!!!


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## falconman515 (Jul 10, 2011)

Gcocks said:


> UPDATE: it's been a couple weeks since I added the KL, the only changes made is adding more...total about 2+ lbs.
> 
> Things are perfect, 68/68 all the time. What a relief, everything balanced...I was going to wait to say it but....
> 
> KITTY LITTER ROCKS!!!!!!


*THE STUFF IS AMAZING*! :cb

There are always those out there that spent a fortune on other name brand humidification beads and want to know back it up since I'm sure they dropped tons of money prior to the KL revolution :bitchslap:... but no matter what is said by who KL is hands down bar none JUST as good as ANY other beads out their at a Massive fraction of the price!

I would never in a million years recommend anything other than KL for at least a wineador (can't speak for smaller humidors etc.) after my experience and reading SO MANY others who use it and it works perfect ... and this thread just proves it once more time!

Tony saved me a grip of money bringing this to light and I was able to save TONS of money for the things that really matter in the hobby .... CIGARS!!!

Glad it worked for you Gerard .... trust me you will never use anything else ever again I'm sure.

I am almost a year into my wineador experience and I have recharged my KL Once ... and it sits Rock Solid at 64-65% 24/7 with no upkeep necessary .... what more can you ask for at one tenth of the price of ridiculously expensive beads and how easy is it spray a bag or two once a year.

and cause I feel the same I have to throw yet another thread again ...... KITTY LITTER ROCKS :rockon: !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


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## KaChong (Jan 1, 2012)

I think running multiple reservoirs of silica gel buffering media adds a complication to the practice of preconditioning the buffering media through the direct application of water spraying. Over time, it is easy to loose track of how many shots, or potential half shots, you may have dispensed into a given container of gel. One tray of media may be conditioned to a higher RH than another which may have you running around trying to dry or moisten the wrong container to reach a desired GENERAL RH in your humidor. Most new users may also be throwing in a few bundles of ROTTs which will either be a source or sink of RH. With so many ill defined sources or sinks of humidity thrown into the cavern of a fresh vinodor, I can see how things might start out of control.

I have myself observed this with a vinodor setup which was recently stocked with KL, a significant quantity of recent cigar arrivals, and a quantity of preconditioned cigars. It was difficult to hit the desired RH with infrequent addition of dry KL or water spraying as I had significant overshoots of my desired RH. It helped tremendously to remove the buffer media altogether and observe the RH that the humidor settled down to. I combined all of the KL into a single tray and mixed it thoroughly and put it into my old coolidor to observe the RH it settled to. I make water additions to my KL after mixing it all together into a single tray before redistributing it into split trays so I don't have an individual tray conditioned to a higher humidity than another. 

I had just changed too many things in one go with my vinodor setup. I had thought that I had gotten away with it as the thing seasoned up to 65% RH pretty fast and the old cigars were going in at 63%, but then I pitched in about 30 new arrivals which threw everything off because some were soggy and some were dry and a new tray of KL added yet another RH buffer of unknown conditioning. 

My advice to new KL users is to take it slow and make your moisture adjustments to KL combined in a single container. Mix it thoroughly before redistributing it into smaller trays and recombine it when making water additions. I am myself looking into conditioning my KL in 2L glass mason jar. With this setup I can make my humidity adjustments to a large quantity of buffer media outside of my humidor with a spare hygro and shake mix it thoroughly before any is distributed into a humidor. I'm certainly taking this into overkill mode, maintaining a small humidor to maintain buffer material, but I like experimenting. I've got a few local BOTL's who I'd like to help out with their buffer media needs too so having 2L of conditioned KL would be handy.

Maybe that's what the secret behind Heartfelt's media is. Plain old silica gel buffer media already conditioned to 60% so all you have to do is make very slight water additions to tweak to your desired RH.


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## Dpricenator (Aug 10, 2011)

I used KL for years and it worked fine. Took bit to get it trained, works fine. I ended up buying a few bags of HCM for a wine cooler I was building and LOVE them. The learning curve on Heartfelt and HCM is better. Those are both plug and play products. The KL take time and patience. I am not very patient and have very little free time. I want to be able to ignore my humidors for weeks on end. So I will not ever start a new humi with KL because of the attention it requires in the begining, but I continue to use it in the coolers , because it's working fine.


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## Tejas (May 28, 2012)

Hey Chris,
Sounds like you Know what ur doing. 
I on the other hand, having issues with water pooling at the bottom of the wineador. Was wondering if you or anybody else can help.

I live in South Texas where its gets really hot in the summer. I turned my double car garage into a man cave so I could enjoy my smokes and watch sports and so on. I spend alot of time in there but only run the AC when its really hot. but I was tired of going inside to get smokes all the time so I purchased a winecooler.

I have a NewAir28 wine cooler that keeps pooling at the bottom. 5 ceader trays from cheaphumidor, 1 lbs of beads and a LG Hydra with 2 Lg fan kits installed at the bottom pointing up running all the time. 3 CalibraII hygrometers calibrated with salt test. Temp on the wineador is set at 66* reads 73*. Hygrometers read 77* and 70% RH. Plugg the drain with hot melt glue. Temp in my mancave is 87* and 56%RH. How can I stop the pooling? Do i unplug the drain? 

Any suggestion would be greatly appreciated. Smoking to many cigars trying to figure this out.
Thanks
Carlos


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## Fuzzy (Jun 19, 2011)

Your humidity problem is the LG Hydra. Even when not running there is water in the canister. The canister is not sealed so you basically have water sitting in your wineador. Put you stash in some other storage temporarily.

Take the Hydra out and put dry kitty litter in your wineador. Do a calibration test on your hygrometer if you have not done so lately. After 24+ hours see what your RH is. If it is low or high from your target RH adjust accordingly. High, add more litter, low lightly spray the litter with distilled water and check after 24+hours.


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## Tejas (May 28, 2012)

Forgive me if I kinda slow. Lol. But can u b a little more specific on why. I thought I need a hydra unit. 
But for what u are saying, I can take the tank out and just use the top part since my fans run off the unit. 
If you want I can send you a vedio of my unit so you can see what I have. It's n 4 section since I vedio it on my iPhone. 
Jst need to know where to send it. 
My LG is not even coming on and my fans are on continuously. What type KL you recomendation? Going to Walmart this evening. Any help is appreciated. Don't have all my smokes n there jst about 60 or so.


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## Tejas (May 28, 2012)

What about my temp?


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## Fuzzy (Jun 19, 2011)

Carlos, most wine coolers seal very well and since the only wood in them is trays or drawers, they keep RH better than a similar size wood cabinet. Your Hydra only gives off humidity. Kitty litter is an inexpensive alternative to beads, which both give and absorb humidity.

There are literally thousands of posts here about kitty litter. Most any silica style cat litter will work as long as it is the unscented variety. Since your RH is high, put the litter in dry. This stuff will absorb moisture. You will have to monitor it. If you see the RH dropping below your target value, a very light misting should do. I would start with a couple pounds placed in home made stocking bags or even placed in shallow trays. A two way humidifier will always beat just pumping water vapor in a tightly sealed storage unit of any kind.


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## kra961 (May 16, 2012)

Tejas said:


> Forgive me if I kinda slow. Lol. But can u b a little more specific on why. I thought I need a hydra unit.
> But for what u are saying, I can take the tank out and just use the top part since my fans run off the unit.
> If you want I can send you a vedio of my unit so you can see what I have. It's n 4 section since I vedio it on my iPhone.
> Jst need to know where to send it.
> My LG is not even coming on and my fans are on continuously. What type KL you recomendation? Going to Walmart this evening. Any help is appreciated. Don't have all my smokes n there jst about 60 or so.


 I took one of my small Le Veil electronic humidifiers reservoirs apart pull the green foam out and replace the foam with KL used a nylon stocking just to make sure the bits of KL don't come out gave it a good shot of water put it back in and humidity is bolted to 65%, works great. Truth be told its a waste of money and time using anything else for humidity control other then KL especially in a small humidor, a much larger one might be another story simply using a fan or two will and does take care of the problem. Use the ExquisiCat® Crystals Fragrance Free Cat Litter, and don't worry about the little blue bit's in it


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## Tejas (May 28, 2012)

Wow, interesting. checked my my wineador. I removed the wet green foam to see what would happen. What do you think about the temp.?


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## kra961 (May 16, 2012)

Tejas said:


> Wow, interesting. checked my my wineador. I removed the wet green foam to see what would happen. What do you think about the temp.?


I'm lucky I live in an area where I don't have to worry much about temps, though I did give thought to making a simple Heat exchanger, use something (small fridge) to cool water, pump it through a radiator inside, in my case a coolidor, with a fan attached (small PC radiator and fan along with a fish tank pump) You could use a thermo electric cooler but they are a bit on the spendy side.


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## Tejas (May 28, 2012)

My NewAir is a thermo electric.
I live in South Texas where its gets really hot in the summer. I turned my double car garage into a man cave so I could enjoy my smokes and watch sports and so on. I spend alot of time in there but only run the AC when its really hot. but I was tired of going inside to get smokes all the time so I purchased a winecooler.

I have a NewAir28 wine cooler that keeps pooling at the bottom. 5 ceader trays from cheaphumidor, 1 lbs of beads and a LG Hydra with 2 Lg fan kits installed at the bottom pointing up running all the time. 3 CalibraII hygrometers calibrated with salt test. Temp on the wineador is set at 66* reads 73*. Hygrometers read 77* and 70% RH. Plugg the drain with hot melt glue. Temp in my mancave is 87* and 56%RH. How can I stop the pooling?


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## kra961 (May 16, 2012)

I wouldn't plug the drain maybe add some mesh that's used in fish tanks to allow the water to drain out, Might want to add 3x the KL I'm running just under 5lbs in my 150q igloo (more lot's more is better, its a desiccant after all) I think once you allow the water out your RH will fall where it should be 63-70% RH, and BTW dude I'm insanely jealous, I'm out in my garage as well but it most defiantly isn't a man cave.


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## yellowv (Dec 24, 2011)

The ambient temp in your garage is just too hot for the fridge. They are not made to be run in hot environments. Mine has trouble keeping cool when my air conditioned house hits 75 or more. There is no way it's going to be able to cool enough when it's in near 90 degree ambient temps. It's going to run constantly, get tons of condensation and die very quickly. Thermoelectrics are not that robust and are very sensitive to ambient temps. The fact it can't cool properly and the hydra being full of water are the problem.


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## Tejas (May 28, 2012)

kra961 said:


> I wouldn't plug the drain maybe add some mesh that's used in fish tanks to allow the water to drain out, Might want to add 3x the KL I'm running just under 5lbs in my 150q igloo (more lot's more is better, its a desiccant after all) I think once you allow the water out your RH will fall where it should be 63-70% RH, and BTW dude I'm insanely jealous, I'm out in my garage as well but it most defiantly isn't a man cave.


Well Kevin, I took out the green foam and emptied the tank In the LG hydra,
Hoping to stop the water pooling at the bottom and thinking of putting KL in the 
tank. Man this is depressing. Mancave party June 9 for the fights (PAC), but no wineador 
Working properly. 
After what Joe said, it's really discouraging. Shoot, could of bought a box of smokes instead
Of the wine cooler. Geuss I should of done more home work. 
Thanks for all of your info guys. 
I'll smoke another shark and try to figure out my next move.


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## kra961 (May 16, 2012)

Tejas said:


> Well Kevin, I took out the green foam and emptied the tank In the LG hydra,
> Hoping to stop the water pooling at the bottom and thinking of putting KL in the
> tank. Man this is depressing. Mancave party June 9 for the fights (PAC), but no wineador
> Working properly.
> ...


Heck Brother I think you are a lot closer to your goal then you think, as Yellow mentioned "The ambient temp in your garage is just too hot for the fridge" can you install a small AC in the garage to bring the temp down 10 deg? that would allow the wine cooler to function normally and the humidity to stabilize.

Regards


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## Tejas (May 28, 2012)

kra961 said:


> Heck Brother I think you are a lot closer to your goal then you think, as Yellow mentioned "The ambient temp in your garage is just too hot for the fridge" can you install a small AC in the garage to bring the temp down 10 deg? that would allow the wine cooler to function normally and the humidity to stabilize.
> 
> Regards


Well Bro, checked on the wineador this morning. Room temp is 83* 76 RH. Wineador is 76* and 69 RH. Beads are about half saturated. Went to Wal-Mart and found some KL but didnt find the KL I was looking for. I think it was scented. Need to put some in the tank of the LG Hydra to replace the green foam. As for the AC, I have two units in the mancave. But scared of the electric bill. Worse case senerio, might need to put in the house with my other large cabinet humidor. Wish I would of known about the abient temp issue before I cut in to my wet bar for the wine cooler.


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## kra961 (May 16, 2012)

Tejas said:


> Well Bro, checked on the wineador this morning. Room temp is 83* 76 RH. Wineador is 76* and 69 RH. Beads are about half saturated. Went to Wal-Mart and found some KL but didnt find the KL I was looking for. I think it was scented. Need to put some in the tank of the LG Hydra to replace the green foam. As for the AC, I have two units in the mancave. But scared of the electric bill. Worse case senerio, might need to put in the house with my other large cabinet humidor. Wish I would of known about the abient temp issue before I cut in to my wet bar for the wine cooler.


I hear ya with the electric bill I have just the opposite problem; I have to heat not cool the house. 
Any petsmart, petco and so on will have the crystal kitty litter you need LOL don't think the scented stuff would make those fine gar's taste any better. 
Just a thought here find a 8 pound container of the correct kitty litter and try just using that, like I said I'm using almost 5 pounds in my igloo which is larger then the wineidor the only other thing I have in there is a 12v 220mm pc fan to stir the air 15mins every 2 hours, heck I have a Humi-Care XG1000 Pro sitting in its box never opened never used, took me a few days of tweaking to reach 65% since then it's been steady between 63 to 66% RH.


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## Tejas (May 28, 2012)

kra961 said:


> I hear ya with the electric bill I have just the opposite problem; I have to heat not cool the house.
> Any petsmart, petco and so on will have the crystal kitty litter you need LOL don't think the scented stuff would make those fine gar's taste any better.
> Just a thought here find a 8 pound container of the correct kitty litter and try just using that, like I said I'm using almost 5 pounds in my igloo which is larger then the wineidor the only other thing I have in there is a 12v 220mm pc fan to stir the air 15mins every 2 hours, heck I have a Humi-Care XG1000 Pro sitting in its box never opened never used, took me a few days of tweaking to reach 65% since then it's been steady between 63 to 66% RH.


Well jst got back from HEB and bought some crystal KL. 
Had some netting with very fine holes and made some tube like sacks. 
3x7 and filled them up with KL. placed 2 inside the LG canister and 3 sacks 
on the bottom far back of the cooler and 1 on the top shelf. I only gave a few sprays
to the 2 in the canister and the rest were set in dry. Will see how that turns out. Will keep u updated.


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## Gcocks (Oct 24, 2011)

Tejas said:


> Well jst got back from HEB and bought some crystal KL.
> Had some netting with very fine holes and made some tube like sacks.
> 3x7 and filled them up with KL. placed 2 inside the LG canister and 3 sacks
> on the bottom far back of the cooler and 1 on the top shelf. I only gave a few sprays
> to the 2 in the canister and the rest were set in dry. Will see how that turns out. Will keep u updated.


Hey Carlos, sounds like you were are having similar problems as I was....removing the oasis and adding KL solved everything. I open the door and check daily...always 68/68 I really can't even believe it!!! would love to post a pic but can't seem to do it with an iPad.

No longer have fluctuation in RH or pooling in the bottom, extremely happy.

On a side note I have at leased 2-3 lbs of KL in Tupperware, I tried those bags but they left dust everywhere, sprayed with distilled a few times for it to find its happy place. Now perfect.

I'm in a very dry climate so some added RH was necessary.

Good luck, after a bit of work you will get there

Edit, also running 2 large computer fans for circulation, with about 2 pounds of KL in the bottom with the fans and 1 pound in the top.


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## jphank (Apr 29, 2012)

kra961 said:


> Just a thought here find a 8 pound container of the correct kitty litter and try just using that, like I said I'm using almost 5 pounds in my igloo which is larger then the wineidor ...


How many quarts is your igloo cooler?


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## kra961 (May 16, 2012)

jphank said:


> How many quarts is your igloo cooler?


Its just a 150q igloo

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/46908770/IMG_20120530_183843.jpg


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## Tejas (May 28, 2012)

Gcocks said:


> Hey Carlos, sounds like you were are having similar problems as I was....removing the oasis and adding KL solved everything. I open the door and check daily...always 68/68 I really can't even believe it!!! would love to post a pic but can't seem to do it with an iPad.
> 
> No longer have fluctuation in RH or pooling in the bottom, extremely happy.
> 
> ...


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## Tejas (May 28, 2012)

Gcocks said:


> Hey Carlos, sounds like you were are having similar problems as I was....removing the oasis and adding KL solved everything. I open the door and check daily...always 68/68 I really can't even believe it!!! would love to post a pic but can't seem to do it with an iPad.
> 
> No longer have fluctuation in RH or pooling in the bottom, extremely happy.
> 
> ...


Gerald and Kevin, update after 2 days. 
Wineador holding steady at 78* and 63RH. No more pooling. Just waiting for it o stabilize. Would like my RH about 67 to 68. But wondering about the temp. Also left my LG in there and replaced the foam with KL and a few sprays of di H2O.


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## TonyBrooklyn (Jan 28, 2010)

Yes that KITTY LITTER ROCKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


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## kra961 (May 16, 2012)

Outstanding Carlos! one issue down next is the temp have you figured out a solution for that? depending on your circumstance here's one solution for your cooling issues.

Fujitsu 12RLS Halcyon Wall Ductless Heat Pump 25 SEER - 12,000 BTU

Installed one of these at my folk's shop Holy crud its nice, super simple and very cheap to run 6 cents an hour I've started making changes to my garage to make it into my man cave and that's going to be the heating/cooling solution for it.

Also remember to go slow with the tweeking towards the final adjustment for your RH a little h2o goes a long way


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## Tejas (May 28, 2012)

TonyBrooklyn said:


> Yes that KITTY LITTER ROCKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Sure does!!!!!


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